Female asylum seekers on Nauru were denied easy access to sanitary pads for "security reasons", an elderly female detainee was given pink "hot pants" to wear as shorts and detainees were referred to by number, not name, according to evidence by former detention centre workers at a Senate inquiry on Monday.

The Nauru detention centre in 2013 after rioting and fires destroyed much of it.

Former Save the Children worker Natasha Blucher was among a group of charity workers removed from Nauru amid now-debunked claims that they encouraged detainees to harm themselves. She was joined at the inquiry by a colleague, Samantha Betts, who was not involved in those allegations.

At a hearing in Canberra, Ms Betts said child detainees were "directly exposed" to other detainees who had stapled their lips together, attempted suicide by hanging and women who had attempted to terminate pregnancies through starvation.

"I know this because the children told me. Most of the children would tell us in a panicked … way," she said.

Ms Betts said sanitary products were provided to women who were menstruating on an "as needed" basis and women were made to routinely ask male guards for the items each time they went to the toilet.

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After questioning the practice, Ms Betts said she was told by guards it was necessary for "security reasons", because sanitary pads were allegedly soaked in gasoline during 2013 riots at the centre.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told the inquiry there were no female detainees at the centre during those riots.

The organisation strongly rejected the claims and the independent Moss review later found no evidence of the allegations.

Ms Blucher said she and her colleagues frequently tried to talk detainees out of committing self-harm, adding that claims to the contrary were "beyond comprehension".

The inquiry also heard evidence from Geoffrey Eames QC, who was Nauru's chief justice for three years. He resigned in March last year, saying he could not be assured that the Nauruan government would respect the judiciary's independence.

Mr Eames said he was told by a detention centre staff member that Mr Morrison instructed workers that "hard walls" should not be installed on Nauru because asylum seekers could then request air conditioning.